News, pop culture and frosty chocolate shakes

March 17, 2004

"The Real World" is pulling out of my hometown after slamming up against one intractable reality: "This is a union town," according to Tony Frasco, vice president of Teamsters Local 107. RW producers figured to come into Philadelphia and set up non-union, as they've done in jerkwater burgs like New York, Chicago and Boston. They apparently didn't reckon on the creative levels of intransigence to which a real Philadelphia Teamster can rise when provoked. Too bad: Now we'll never know what a bunch of high-strung, narcissistic twentysomethings do when the Tastykakes run out.

February 25, 2004

"What happens when two successful black rappers move into a predominantly white gated suburban community in New Jersey?" the Hollywood Reporter asks. Phew, for a minute there I thought they were describing a new pilot for Fox.

Oh. Wait. They were.

Man, that's depressing. So is the tepid endorsement given the premise by one of its creators, rapper/actor Method Man, who "...figured that his idea for a TV series couldn't be any worse than a lot of the stuff he has seen in primetime in recent years." Yow. Could he back off the thing any quicker? Oh. Wait. He can: According to the Reporter, Method Man describes his qualifications this way: "Honestly, I'm not a TV dude." Oh, I don't know.